President Obama says government can’t be run like a startup

President Obama says that although agile and efficient government is a noble goal, agencies can’t simply adopt Silicon Valley-style thinking, according to GeekWire.

Some legacy systems will take time to grow more flexible, and in the meantime they must continue to serve a multitude of diverse people with various needs.

Obama said the sentiment in the science, tech, and entrepreneur communities — that the entire system needs to be overhauled and built again — is misguided. The system isn’t broken, the two modes are just playing by different rules, he said.

He did agree that there are improvements to be made to the way government runs. But, for now, the vision of more agile, pivoting government and a rooftop dog park on the White House remain a pipe dream.